January 29, 2025
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with his Canadian counterpart, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly at the U.S. State Department in Washington D.C on Wednesday to mull mutual issues, including tariffs, trade, immigration and combating illegal drug smuggling.
The meeting, the first for the two leaders, comes amid emerging tensions between the two neighboring friendly countries—the U.S. and Canada, following President Donald Trump’s recent tariff threats and remarks earlier this month suggesting that Canada, one of U.S. closest allies should instead consider becoming the 51st state of the U.S., given its reliant on U.S. trade and economy.
The Trump administration has set a February 1 deadline to impose 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico unless these countries bolster border security to halt the flows of illegal immigrants and crack down on deadly fentanyl drugs into the U.S.
Underscoring his intent to impose the 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting February 1 if they do not oblige to his requests, President Trump told reporters traveling with him aboard AF1 last weekend that he is not willing to “spend hundreds of billions of dollars on supporting a country unless that country is a state.”
Trump first floated the idea in a statement posted on his Truth Social platform on November 25, shortly after he was elected President.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced on January 6 that he will resign from office and as leader of his party once a new Prime minister has been chosen, responded to Trump’s threats on social media, saying the idea that Canada will become the 51 state of the U.S. is beyond fantasy and warns that any tariffs imposed on Canadian goods would raise prices for American consumers.
The Prime Minister had announced in October his country’s plan reduce the number of new immigrants it accepts, noting that while immigration is essential for the country’s future, he acknowledged that it has to be sustainable.
Canada, like many other nations around the world, is trying to find a sustainable way to deal with the influx of migrants.
Experts warn that the U.S. imposing tariffs on goods from Canada would not only lead to high-risk costs for American consumers, including fueling inflation and slowing down the economy, but it could undermine the global economy as well.
The U.S. and Canada are among the world’s top 10 largest economies at number 1 and 9, respectively, according to data sourced from the International Monetary Fund.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during her first White House briefing on Tuesday told reporters that the President still plans to move forward with his plan to impose the tariffs,
Trump, during his first term used tariffs as part of his aggressive powerful negotiation tactics to coerce countries like Canada, Mexico and China to renegotiate trade terms such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was renamed U.S. Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA) with terms that bolster U.S. manufacturing and improve compliance with labor laws.
Yesterday, Trump’s pick for Cabinet Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was sworn in and is expected to implement the Trump administration’s economic policy and agenda as well as conciliate any expected markets disruption caused by the tariffs.
